An Age Old Act
by KoreanMagpie
Summary: Everyone knows South Korea is that happy-go-lucky pervert who is still has good intentions. After all, it couldn't be any other way. That was who he was, wasn't it? The other nations soon find that this Asian has quite a bit of rage seething under his cheerful surface. Rated T for language and possible violence. First fic, please tell me what genre it is.
1. Masks

**I own nothing except the plot. If I owned Hetalia, I'd put some more background into Korea.**

**So, I hope you enjoy.  
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It was an old act, but one that no one ever saw through. That was the way it had to be. No one knew what could lie behind his facade, or even that it was there. They saw a happy-go-lucky, somewhat perverted, and well-meaning nation. What they failed to see was that it was a ruse. Not even Yao or Kiku, who spent longer with him than anyone else, knew. Alfred wouldn't notice unless it fell out of the sky and hit him in the face anyway.

Young Soo, despite his cheery appearance, was usually seething under the surface. For the most part, the other nations ignored him. He pretended to hate it, in reality, it was the opposite. The more often he was alone, the more often he could put aside his 'mask'.

That was the best way to describe it. He saw his facade as being like one of his traditional masks. Always frozen in an exaggerated grin, no matter the true expression of its wearer. Sometimes, he just wanted to rip away the act and scream at them all for being so stupid. He'd gotten dangerously close to doing so on multiple occasions, but not once did the guise falter. In a way, he was an actor beyond compare.

He was getting home from another fruitless World Meeting. His house was in a traditional Korean style, but was more modern on the inside. The grin stayed on his face until the door closed behind him. Afterwards it immediately disappeared, his following facial expression looked like he'd never been happy in his_ life_.

He walked past the living room, his bedroom, he just walked to the room furthest from the front door. He wrenched the door open, he intentionally made it difficult to open. He grabbed a sword off the wall on the way in. It looked vaguely like Japan's sword, but more curved and much, much bigger. It was almost as long as he was tall. He carried it easily from decades of practice.

The room looked smaller than it really was, because one wall was covered in a couple feet of thatching, which had several layers of wood under it.

He gripped the sword tightly and rushed at the wall, driving it deep into the wood under the thatching.

He needed this. It kept him sane, helped him keep the happy pretense. It wasn't uncommon for him to imagine the sword going through China or Japan. He was just so_ fucking nice_ to them even after the fucking_ hell_ they put him through, and they treated him like shit.

He didn't lock the door to his house, no one ever came by anyway.

He didn't notice that he had left the room door open.

He didn't notice that Japan had come in the house while he was stabbing the wall.

He didn't notice until he was pulling the sword out of the wall again and was about to put it back up that Japan was staring at him from the doorway with a look of shock on his face.

The guise came up reflexively, "Japan! Did you need something da-ze?"

God, he hated saying 'da-ze'. Hell, most Koreans couldn't even make a 'z' sound.

Japan didn't respond. He saw Korea stabbing the wall. He had never seen the other Asian look so angry before. The sheer raw hatred that was in those eyes was somewhat frightening. And here he was, smiling as though it had never happened.

"A-America-san wanted me to ask you if you'd take him sightseeing," Japan said, quickly pulling himself together.

"Of course, da-ze! Mind you, you ought to tell him there's not much to see but temples and palaces."

"I'll make sure to do that." Japan was starting to think he imagined the hate in the Korean's eyes, looking at him smiling like that. But he knew he had not. And Young Soo's demeanor only changed when he realized Japan was in the room.

Japan quickly left Korea's house. America would be happy to know Korea would give him a tour. Japan also had the distinct feeling at least some of the others should know about what he had seen.

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**I have no idea what genre this is as the moment.**

**As for what happens next (on the off chance you like this), well, you'll just have to wait.**


	2. Kind of filler

**This is kinda filler, but I'm writing fairly quickly.**

**I still own nothing.**

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America was thrilled to hear that Korea had agreed to give him a tour. Even so, the mood of the makeshift meeting became somber when Japan told them about what he had seen Korea doing.

The Asian wasn't present. Which may have been for the best.

"At present, I believe it may be for the best that we not let Korea-san know what we've been talking about," Japan said as the room quieted down.

It had been shocking to all of them, the happy-go-lucky Asian wasn't so happy-go-lucky after all.

"Since when did he even have a sword that big aru?"

Japan was familiar with swords that size. Very familiar.

"I am aware that Admiral Yi Sun Shin had two swords of about the same size. Korea-san probably got his at about that time."

Japan actually hadn't seen a lot of Korea during that war. He was rather preoccupied.

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Korea was taking a hot shower. They made him feel better, and he needed that with Japan's unannounced intrusion and the useless meeting.

He did his best to ignore the scars that laced his body, after all, they all had scars like that.

Some scars looked cool, his didn't. It was torn flesh that never healed quite right, flesh that had been ripped off, reminders of his war with his brother, reminders of what had been done to the both of them.

He paid them no mind. Those times had passed and it was best to regard them as such. He stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. Quickly drying off, he grabbed the change of clothes he brought into the bathroom with him.

He ought to do something fun, something that would make him happier. He'd go out, maybe do some karaoke. He'd probably buy some sweets while he was at it, sweets always made him feel better.

He quickly pulled on his clothes, a blue shirt with english nonsense and a picture of a cat on it, and a pair of jeans. It wasn't the most masculine shirt, but goddamn it was cute. He needed that right now.

Pyeongtaek, he'd go to Pyeongtaek. It wasn't the biggest city he had, but it was fairly nice. And it had great street vendors and adorable socks, that was always nice.

Yeah. He'd do that. He'd go to Pyeongtaek, buy some food from street vendors, do karaoke, get some cute socks, and go to stationary stores and stuff. It'd be perfect for taking his mind off things.

Maybe then he'd feel a bit less murderous.

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**KoreanMagpie: Short and pretty useless, I know. But I felt like this had to be written.**


	3. Final Straw

**KoreanMagpie: Hello again. This chapter's really short, but with any luck I'll be giving them more bulk soon. HOW SHORT THESE ARE IRRITATES ME BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO ADD MORE WHILE MAKING SURE IT STILL MAKES SENSE AND WORKS IN THE SAME CHAPTER.**

** I still own nothing.**

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Another World Meeting was going on. Again, they were getting absolutely _nowhere_. It was at these moments keeping up the facade got really difficult. Honestly they were all just so _irritating_ and anyone who was actually talking _about the issue at hand_ wasn't making any sense whatsoever. Well, he had an image to uphold. Might as well get it over with.

He crept up behind China and jumped forward, reaching around him and grabbing his chest.

"Your breasts belong to me, da-ze!"

China screamed and hit him in the face. He hit the ground, hand at his face.

"Ow! F-" He cut himself off. There was blood on his hand. China just gave him a bloody nose.

He didn't even notice that he'd dropped his facade. He wasn't smiling, he didn't look remotely okay with the situation. He looked fucking pissed off. He was glaring daggers at China while still holding onto his face.

"Ah! Korea, I'm so sorry aru!"

Korea stood up, the glare never leaving his face. The room had gone quiet, they all remembered what Japan had said before.

"You know what? Forget it. You want me gone? Wish fucking granted, bitchass."

He left the room, still holding his hand to his face. The door slammed behind him.

"Whoa dude, you messed up big time," America said to China, who was still staring at the door in shock.

"I-I'll go to his house in the morning and apologize aru. Hopefully he'll have cooled down by then."

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The other nations often forgot that Korea was just as good at isolating himself as Japan. Why? Because his mountains were harder than shit to get through. He could just fade into the mountains. Being away from their stupidity would do him good.

He went home, grabbed his sword, and left immediately. He would _not_ be forced to stay with those imbeciles. He could hunt. He could survive in those mountains no problem. And he would. Maybe he was overreacting, it was an accident after all. But it was one more insult on decades of disdain.

He liked the mountains. There was a quiet that wasn't silence. It was peace. He'd just wait up there until he could maybe stand to nod, or maybe even say hello, to the others. It wouldn't be forever, it may be a long time, but not forever. He was angry, but he couldn't stand to be alone forever. He wished there was someone he could talk to who would get it.

He missed his brother.

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**KoreanMagpie: IT COULD'VE BEEN WORSE, EVEN IF IT IS PITIFULLY SHORT.**

**Reviews are very appreciated. I'd like to know what you think.**

**PinkSeaFox13, thank you for your support.**


	4. Can't be found (filler-ish again)

I LIVE!

Sorry this took so freaking long. I'm an easily distracted individual.

Enjoy!

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Korea sat under a tree, thinking about nothing in particular. He let his mind wander, idly making a chain of flowers.

He wasn't quite sure how long he'd been in the mountains, more than a few days, that was for sure. He wondered if anyone missed him. It was unlikely, most of them probably didn't even notice his absence. Sons of bitches.

The quiet solitude was nice, though. He remembered stories about his long gone family members. The Three Kingdoms. Too bad they were always locked in a power struggle which resulted in Silla convincing China to help her kill Baekje and Goguryeo. Silla herself died some time after that. He wished he'd gotten to know them, though he heard Baekje was kind of weird.

Come to think of it, all of them were kind of weird. If he remembered correctly, they all had this weird obsession. That and they wanted to kill each other, despite being siblings. Okay, maybe he would've wanted to know them if they _weren't_ at each other's throats.

Aaaand he was out of flowers.

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Days earlier, with the other nations-

"I CAN'T FIND HIM, ARU!"

"Woah, dude, calm down! What're you talkin' 'bout?"

"KOREA! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR HIM FOR TWO DAYS, ARU!"

The screaming was enough in and of itself to make the other nations pay attention. The news seemed pretty bad, especially with the 'Korea is a really angry person but is really good at hiding it' revelation.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. We'll find him, how hard can it be, right?" England said, putting a hand on China's shoulder in an attempt to get him to stop screaming.

"It can be very difficult, Asa," Japan replied. A number of nations, mostly the European ones, looked at him in confusion.

"How many of you have actually _gone_ to Korea?" Japan asked, sounding slightly irritated.

There was a general quiet muttering from the nations. Most of them didn't see Korea very often at all, even fewer actually went to see him.

"The Korean Peninsula is very mountainous and those mountains are often covered in large amounts of vegetation and many have very sudden drops. It can be very, _very_ difficult to get through those mountains."

Japan paused and looked at all of them. It was kind of impressive how few of them knew this, it wasn't hard to find out. A decent hike in those mountains could prove it.

"There are villages in those mountains where no one knew the Korean War even _happened_ until just recently. For _one_ person, staying out of sight isn't difficult at all."

Well, of course Japan knew that. China probably knew it too. After all, they both controlled that area at one point. That was probably why Korea was so pissed. He had no real reason to like them, really.

They really ought to have considered this before he finally snapped at them. Maybe they shouldn't have been so harsh, after all, he was being pretty nice to people he had every reason to hate with every fiber of his being.

Some of his people still did.

China broke the silence, "I searched his house for some hint as to where he went."

"Did you find anything?" England asked, he was pretty grateful for the lapse in uncomfortable silence. The screaming was better.

"I didn't find a sword, aru."

There was more silence. Wherever he went, he took the sword with him. Which didn't foretell anything good.

"I also found a bunch of those lucky cats, aru."

"Why would he have those?" France asked. Lucky cats were a Japanese thing, and it appeared Korea really disliked Japan, despite everything.

"Well, they were really cute, aru. Most of them were black, though there were a few white ones."

Japan looked confused now, "No yellow or tri-colored ones?"

"No, just black and white. The colors are significant, right?"

"Yes. Black is to ward off evil and white is purity or happiness."

"Why do I feel like all that black was something passive aggressive, aru?"

It very well may have been, seeing as Korea was very rarely openly aggressive to them.

Or maybe he just liked black lucky cats. Could've gone either way, no one needed an excuse for liking something. Besides, Korea had a thing for cats. He had so many shirts with them on them it wasn't even funny. That went for every animal he considered cute, but mostly cats.

It seemed to be a pretty common trait among nations to adore cute things. It just usually didn't go that far.

"Hey, dude, how many of those cat things were there?"

"No one should have that many cat ANYTHINGS on a single shelf, aru."

So. They were going hiking.

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A few days later.

Korea had one of the black lucky cats with him.

Goddamnit he was allowed to be a little superstitious and he felt like he could use the thing. He did _not_ want to get mauled by a boar or something. And if mythical creatures _were_ real, like England said, he wanted to have at least a bit of luck. After all, not many creatures from his myths were friendly, to say the least.

He might hate Japan, but he wasn't going to deny that his people made some pretty neat stuff. After all, his hate for Japan was personal. People who didn't do those terrible things didn't deserve to be blamed for it.

Besides, what were the chances that anyone would find out about all that? There was no harm in it, anyway. He could like whatever the hell he wanted.

He was eating boar. He avoided being mauled by holding his sword out in front of him while it ran towards him so it impaled itself.

It was at these moments momentum was his friend.

It was bland, which was to be expected as it was just meat he stuck in a fire. Even so, after so long eating things like that, whatever edible plants he could find, he was considering going back. His rage had mostly died down.

Nah, he'd wait more. He didn't want to see anyone's face just yet. Though he probably should've gotten more than just his sword. Like maybe something to cook with so he wouldn't be using his sword to pull the meat out of the fire.

He'd deal with it, for now. Though a six foot long sword was a really awkward knife when not using it to kill things.

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That's it. Sorry.

I tried.

Thank you, to those of you who stuck around and those of you who decided you like it.

I'm trying to keep them in character, albeit with more depth on Korea's part.

Review! Or don't, your choice. I ain't gonna tell you what to do.


	5. In the Hall of the Mountain King

I'm trying to update faster, hooray!

Thank you for the reviews, I find them very encouraging.

The title of this chapter comes from the song by Peer Gynt.

Onward!

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**In the Hall of the Mountain King**

The nations were hiking through the Korean mountains, looking for Korea. Again. They'd been at this for over a week.

"Weeeeeeeest, carry meeeeeeee," Prussia whined. He was trying to get a chestnut out of his hair without pricking himself on the spines. They all had a number of thorns caught in their skin or clothing.

"Prussia-kun, I'm fairly certain you'd hit tree branches if anyone tried to carry you."

"Dude! Check out this flower!" America called. The aforementioned flower was a bright magenta in color and had many very thin petals. It was a very attractive flower and was on a rather boring, shrubby looking plant. America reached out to touch it. Not pick, just touch.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" the vast majority of other nations screamed.

"What? I'm not going to hurt it!"

"America, you bloody idiot, that's _nettle_!"

"Oh," He knew what nettle was and what would happen if he touched it, he'd just never seen it before. Well, not in a long time, anyway.

They continued trudging through the mountains, _why_ did this have to happen? Why couldn't Korean mountains be easier to get through?

Oh right, Korea got tired of putting up with their shit. That wasn't too surprising, actually. The mountains were just really convenient for him.

"Ve~ I think it's going to rain."

Well there was no real shelter, so the trees would have to do. They'd get wet, but it was better than nothing.

Wet leaves and vegetation would make moving on noticeably harder, though. This really just wasn't their day, was it? A godawful hike in mountains that were a lot harder to get through than they should've been and now it was going to rain.

That was just wonderful.

In their defense: how were they to know something like this would happen? Sure, giving Korea a nosebleed was a bit much, but he'd surely notice if they started tip toeing around him!

How could they know that beneath the act, there was a man who was quicker to snarl than to smile? He was a very convincing actor, even after Japan saw him with the sword. They could almost believe it never happened.

And that was why they were going through these thrice damned mountains when it was going to rain soon.

It went from a light drizzle to pouring buckets a lot faster than they thought it would.

This was miserable. Who in all of heaven and hell would want this? How the hell was Korea living here? How could _anyone_ live here?

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Korea was sitting just outside a cave as the sun rose. Last night's rain made the air feel cleaner, fresher.

It was morning, and he was calm. He hadn't been awake long enough for the rage and resentment bubble to the surface.

He sat with his eyes closed as sunlight started filtering through the trees, listening to the soft, distant sound of the underground river that had carved the caverns behind him.

He heard a branch break, so he slowly opened one eye.

It was a fox. It had an air of intelligence about it. More than some humans did.

"Well, hello there."

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The nations were panting as they climbed. This was a fresh new hell. Sleeping had been uncomfortable as shit last light, probably because they had been sleeping on the ground.

Another day had gone by, and the sun was setting. They were all miserable and they ran out of food eight hours ago. It took three hours to make America shut up about it.

Not to mention the mountain had gotten much steeper.

"I think I hear water, aru!"

"Like, a river?"

"Maybe, but I think it's underground. Sounds far off, aru."

"The awesome me has found a cave!" Prussia called. They followed his snake-like laughing and found him on a cave floor. By the looks of it, finding it was unintentional.

"Good job, da?"

They slowly started coming in, careful not to bump their heads on the rocks.

"Hey, panda bastard, there's light deeper in," Romano said, pointing deeper into the cave. Lo and behold! There was!

"Let's go, aru!"

They walked quickly towards the light, they didn't run because the cave floor was somewhat wet and they didn't want to slip.

They entered a large cavern with a bigass fire burning off to the side. What caught their attention was Korea, sitting on a large rock with a pretty, well dressed woman, eating dried meat.

He looked at them, slightly irritated.

"What?"

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Not as long as the last one, but we're getting somewhere.

Reviews remain appreciated, but I won't insist you do so.

Anyway, that's it for now.


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